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Hold an event during which students read books to raise money for the
school library.

Objectives

Students gain appreciation for books. Students track and calculate amounts of
money collected in a classroom or school-wide read-a-thon.

Keywords

books, read-a-thon, money, fund-raising, library, literature, reading

Materials Needed[shopmaterials]

books, teacher or student created pledge sheets, pen or pencils

Lesson Plan

This classroom activity could easily expand to include an entire school or community. Your read-a-thon might take place during the school day, as this one does. Students and parents might document the amount of time students read at home during Children's Book Week or any other week.

Classroom activity directions:

Discuss the meaning of the word telethon. Ask students whether they have ever seen a telethon on television. Ask students about the purpose of the telethon.

Tell students that they are going to participate in an activity similar to a telethon; this activity, called a read-a-thon, will raise money for the school library. Tell students how long the read-a-thon will last. Depending on your students' ages and abilities, your read-a-thon may last a half-day or all day.

Students create a pledge sheet explaining the purpose of the read-a-thon and ask family, friends, and school personnel to pledge an amount of money for each page or each book read.

Tell students that during the read-a-thon, they will spend their time reading their favorite books to themselves, to one another, or to other classes. Ask students to bring in pillows or other favorite things for the read-a-thon day. Solicit ideas for decorating the room and making the room comfortable for that day.

After the read-a-thon, tally and collect the pledges and present the money to the school library.